Ideas to Make Money Today

Idea #1: Take Action

OK, it might seem a bit weird to say “take action” when you don’t yet know which action to take! However, this is the place where most folks get stuck most often. They get the idea, but they become paralyzed and never take any action. Hence, they never get the money they wanted to have.

Make a vow to yourself that no matter what, you WILL take action as soon as possible. Use that powerful mental momentum to catapult you into profits. Use your excitement to start a business that will take you to the next level.

Idea #2: Look Into Affiliate Marketing

If you’re an Internet marketer or you’re interested in becoming an Internet marketer, you might wonder what the term affiliate marketing means. If you’ve read any information about selling things on the Internet, you have certainly heard this term before. However, you might not quite understand what it entails or why you should be involved with it.

In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is simply selling any vendor’s products through an affiliate network and getting a commission. Of course, there is certainly more to the process than that. Let’s talk a little bit about why you would want to be involved in affiliate marketing.

The amount of money that is exchanged online every single day is staggering. When you think about the billions of people who use the Internet on a daily basis from every country in just about every corner of the world, you can see that there is a lot of money to be made online every hour of the day.

The key to affiliate marketing is placing yourself between the vendor and the end buyer and collecting a commission. In order to do that, you will first have to do several things including keyword research, building a site to gather the customers and learning how to market the product effectively in such a way as to get the person to click on your link and purchase the product.

There are there are many affiliate networks to which you can belong. The key to finding the right ones to work with is to ask around and see what kind of reputation they have as far as paying affiliates and having the right kinds of vendors to choose from. For instance, an example of an affiliate network would be Commission Junction. Let’s say that you’re interested in marketing at particular brand of shoes.

If Commission Junction has a vendor that they work with who sells this type of shoes, you would try to apply to their program to sell their product. So let’s say that you are trying to sell red widget shoes. These are the latest, greatest things on the market and everyone is talking about them. You do some keyword research and you set up your own blog site about the product. Then Commission Junction provides you with a special coded link so that any time someone clicks on it, they are going to go to the vendor’s site using a special cookie with your information in it.

Depending on how long the vendor honors that tracking information, the buyer could come back at a later time from the same computer to purchase the shoes and you would still make a commission. So, for instance, if the vendor’s cookie is 60 days then the buyer could come back 59 days from now using their computer to buy those shoes, and you would still make a commission.

However some vendors have a very short cookie tracking period. For example, Amazon only has a 24-hour tracking time period on their links. This means that the buyer goes to Amazon and then decide to purchase the item a week later, you would no longer receive the commission unless they came back through your website again. Although that is a drawback, many people do make a lot of money using Amazon because there is such a wide selection of products that they can market.

So let’s take an example of what you could make by doing affiliate marketing. You want to sell those red widget shoes and they cost $100. You set up your site, you sign up with the vendor and you get your special link. You find out that you’re going to make 30% commission for each sale. Oprah has a show about the latest fashion trends, and she talks about how great these red widget shoes are.

The next day, you have a huge surge of traffic to your website and you sell 42 pairs of red widget shoes. This means that you just made a commission of $1260! Can you see how affiliate marketing can make you a lot of money if you know what you’re doing?

Idea #3: Take a Passion & Make it Happen

You will often hear people talk about how miserable they are in the day job, and how they wish they could do something they were “passionate” about.

I believe that people are thinking backwards. You see, most people get out of college or high school and get a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke). They work and work so that “one day” they can retire and have fun. By the time they retire, they are older and may be facing more medical issues. They get a little retirement money each month (and maybe Social Security if they are lucky) and they barely get by.

Are these people going to vacation on Fiji? Probably not.

WHY wait?? Why spend your whole life working for someone else and waiting for your “release” from working life before you start enjoying yourself?

How about taking your passion right NOW and making it into a business? Believe me, if you love something you will be able to sell it as a business.

Let’s say you are a gardening freak. You love dirt and plants more than life itself. Why not turn that into a business? Why not write about it and sell affiliate products? Why not offer to teach classes in your local area? Why not offer to do gardening work in people’s yards?

There are many ways you can jump out there and use your passion. Do you love kids? Pets? Horses? Crocheting? Sewing? Cooking?

Think, brainstorm and come up with ideas on how you can turn your hobby (or passion) into MONEY.

Idea #4: Become a personal trainer

Are you a fitness buff? Do you stay in good shape? This is a great area where you can make good money.

There are MILLIONS of people who need help getting into shape. If you have a passion for health and fitness, you can become certified as a personal trainer (check Google for more info).

People will gladly pay you good money to keep them motivated and moving forward. You could even have your own small group boot camp classes. This will help you make more money because you can train more people at one time.

Idea #5: Become a tutor

This is another great way to make good income from home. From now until the end of time, kids will need help in school. This isn’t going to change!

By helping kids with school work, you will be contributing the growth of another person while also making a nice income.

You can do this in your home, at a local school or at the student’s home.

Idea #6: Help Senior Citizens

As baby boomers have started hitting their senior years, the market to work with older people has broken open. There are so many ways that a person can start a business devoted to assisting people who need help.

There is this in-between group of seniors who are not ready to go into a nursing home and want to remain in their own home for as long as possible. However, maybe they cannot drive to the store due to vision problems or maybe they need reminders to take their medications. Perhaps they just need someone who can spend time with them and visit.

These senior related businesses can be a big business that you will enjoy at the same time.

Idea #7: Become a Family Photographer

I cannot tell you how many success stories I hear about stay at home mom’s becoming well paid photographers! This is happening more and more. Let me tell you about a personal friend of mine who did this.

She is a mom of 2 small kids and had always loved taking pictures. She finally invested in HERSELF and took a short course at the local college about photography.

She then decided to start a little side business, so she told friends and family that she would take their pictures. This blossomed and she is now making a full time income at her own pace and on her own schedule. She is in high demand and is even working on some pictures for a new TV show on one of the home and garden related networks!

Her pictures are beautiful and she knew nothing when she started 2 years ago. If you love taking pictures, this might be a great thing to check into.

Idea #8: eBay Business

I can speak from personal experience on this one because I have had a successful eBay business for several years.

My eBay business was probably different than a lot of people’s. I didn’t want to mess with having distributors or having to do drop shipping. So, I focused on selling used items that I bought a garage sales and thrift stores.

In time, I eventually started selling mainly China and dinnerware. While this may not sound like a big moneymaking business, I could regularly bring in $2000-$3000 a month in my spare time. Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

I would go to thrift stores, garage sales and maybe estate sales and purchase sets of dinnerware. Of course, there was some research involved and experience in knowing which items with someone which wouldn’t.

I would then break up the dinnerware sets into separate auctions and sell them off piece by piece. For instance, if I bought a 30 piece dinnerware set for $20, I might find that I can get $9.99 for each piece. Therefore, I was looking at making $300 for $20 investment.

Of course, there is always a little bit more involved, but let’s just say that you can make big money selling used plates and other dishes. If you don’t believe me, let me tell you one success story.

I once bought a box that had a dinner plate, a couple of bowls and several cups and saucers. The whole box cost me seven dollars. I wasn’t sure about who the maker was, but the name did sound familiar. When I got home, I was astonished to find that this particular pattern was on display at a museum in New York City at that time.

I quickly put the dinner plate up for auction just to see what I get. In less than 24 hours, someone bought the dinner plate for $125! If you would like one of those kind of pain days, you might want to think about what you can sell on eBay.

Idea #9: Wedding or Event Planner

So many people are looking to hire a wedding planner when they’re getting married. There is a lot that has to be done before the couple can walk down the aisle. For many people, the task of planning a wedding is overwhelming it would be much easier if they had someone who could handle it for them.

Starting your own wedding or event planning business isn’t that hard if you are an organized person who has some creative skills. If you get flustered easily, wedding planning is probably not for you. However, if you enjoy being creative and working with brides then you might find that wedding planning is a great avenue for your interests.

You can make a lot being a wedding or event planner, so if this interests you do a little research to see what it would take to start your own business in your area.

Idea #10: Gift Baskets

Many creative types also like to start gift basket businesses. While this may not sound like it could be a big moneymaker, think about all the places that you could sell gift baskets. First of all, you could sell them online on your own website.

Of course, another great place to market your gift baskets would be to real estate agents. Agents are always looking for great gifts to give their homeowners after closing, and gift baskets are a popular choice. Finding a reliable, reasonably priced source in their area is a great benefit for a real estate agent.

Idea #11: Scrapbooking

You would have to have been living under a rock for the last several years to not heard about the popular craze of scrap booking. People get together and do this and even take weekend trips to have a scrap booking weekend with their girlfriends.

However, for those women who were not crafty types, they miss out on having a scrapbook of their children and family. By offering a scrapbook and service, you will have fun doing what you like to do while helping someone else preserve their family memories.

Believe it or not, people will pay good money for you to organize their photographs and set them up in such a way that they can enjoy them and showcase them for their friends.

Idea #12: Home Staging

Have you ever gone to look for a new home and wondered what the current owner was thinking when they decorated it? This is something that happens to all home buyers went around looking for a home, so this is why home staging has become such a popular topic in the last few years.

You can now become accredited in home staging by taking a course. Then, you can offer your services to local sellers. In light of the current real estate market and how hard it is in some areas to sell house, it would make good sense to market your services to real estate agents and sellers in your area to give them the best shot at getting their home sold.

Idea #13: Mobile Pet Grooming

Are you someone who loves animals? If so, a mobile pet grooming business might be the ticket to success for you. Some people simply don’t want the hassle of trying to bathe your dog or other animal.

While many people will take their dog to the pet grooming salon and have it done, it is an inconvenience to have to drive your pet across town to get them groomed and bring them home.

Whenever you offer a service that gives more convenience to a person, you will always have plenty of business following you. In fact, you may have a lot of word-of-mouth business as well.

Idea #14: Child Care Provider

Parents are always looking for quality child care for their kids. Many parents do not like the idea of putting their children in day care center where they are surrounded by other children who might be sick or people but they don’t know.

By providing quality childcare in your home, you will be giving parents a great alternative plus making additional income as well. Extra of course, you will have to check on the regulations in your area to see what it would take to open up a childcare center in your home. There are certain limits on how many children can be kept in the home at one time.

You will also need to consider things like whether or not you have pets in the home that could potentially harm a child.

Idea #15: Cleaning Service

Many people have found that they make big money when they get into the cleaning industry. While this might not seem like a great place to make money, cleaning services really “clean” up. Sorry, just had to use that pun.

The object here is not to be the person cleaning yourself, but to hire others who will do the cleaning for you. You are in essence the middleman between the homeowner in the person doing the cleaning. You are the owner of the business rather than the person working in it.

Of course, you need to be someone who can manage other people and make sure the job gets done matter what.

Idea #16: Custom Jewelry

If you are someone who likes to be creative and can make jewelry, then a custom jewelry making business might be for you. Not only can you sell your jewelry to friends and family, but there are many other avenues for doing it as well.

You can create your own website and sell your wares and make money online. There are even sites which are similar to keep a bit specialize in crafts specifically. One of these is called Etsy.

You can also sign up to receive alerts online for local craft fairs that are coming to your ear you. You can get a table at this craft fairs and sell your jewelry there. You’d be surprised at the following you can create when it comes to people who love to buy custom jewelry.

You might even want to specialize in certain things such as jewelry for children or men.

Idea #17: Virtual Assistant

Perhaps no other work at home job is as potentially lucrative is becoming a virtual assistant. Many years ago, this term was not even in existence but now it has become the staple for many small-business owners as well as part time earn money online folks.

A virtual assistant can mean any number of things but basically it is a person who works from home virtually assisting other business owners.

For instance, you might be the assistant to an executive who needs you to do typing at home or return phone calls or e-mails. You are their secret weapon and hidden employee. However, you are actually an independent contractor so you set your own schedule and rates.

Virtual assistants can get jobs online and overriding of ways. There are certain websites even go to and applying for freelance positions to work with business owners who need a virtual assistant. You can also work for companies that supply jobs for virtual assistants.

Idea #18: Professional Organizer

If you are the organized type of person, you might be able to find a very lucrative career as a professional organizer.

Many people have zero ability to organize their home or work space. They would be delighted to have someone who can come in and create an organized space for them.

You could even offer specialized services such as closet re-organization. Offer these kinds of special services and you will become a word of mouth sensation!

One of the quick ways to use this skill and make big money online is to offer your high quality shots on stock photo websites that pay you royalty on every sale of any image that you submitted on their site.

Idea #19: Pet Sitter

People love their pets. There is no question about that. They will go to great lengths to protect them and make sure that they have all that they need.

One issue that many pet owners have when they are at work or going out of town is where they will put their beloved pet. No one really likes to leave their dog or cat with a kennel because they worry that their pet will not understand or could be mistreated.

As a pet sitter, you can either keep these animals at your home or you can set a schedule to visit with the pets, feed them and possibly walk them at certain intervals. Plus, you get to spend time with some great pets along the way!

Idea #20: Article Writer

This is probably something you have never considered because you may not know it is even an option for a home based make money online business. However, there is a lot of demand for this job right now!

People who build websites online are always needing new, fresh content. So, they either write articles themselves or hire writers to create the content. They use these articles on their sites, blogs or other traffic generating places in order to drive more visitors to their site.

Article writers can set their own rates, and you do not need to have special writing skills to do it. If you have reasonably good writing, spelling and grammar skills, you can be a great asset to internet marketers.

Let’s take an example: Let’s say you charge $5 per article to write 500 words (which is low, by the way). Most people can write 10-20 articles per day once they are used to the pace and process.

If you only write 10 articles, you would make $50 for that day. You can work as much or as little as you want. Once the word gets out, you will have a lot of word of mouth business too.

Idea #21: Ghostwriter

Since we are talking about article writing, let’s also touch on ghostwriting too. This is where internet marketers will hire you to write an entire ebook for them. This is where you can make some serious cash online!

For instance, an internet marketer may come to you and say they want an ebook about how to bake wedding cakes. You would do some research online, put together quality information about how to create these cakes and write the book.

You can make anywhere from $150 to over $1000 for an ebook depending on the length. That is good money, huh?

Idea #22: Garage or Estate Sale Coordinator

Have you ever had to plan a garage sale? All of the setting up, pricing, sitting outside all day… It isn’t a very fun event, is it?

There is a great business opportunity in helping people set up and manage their garage and estate sales. You can make an agreement to get a percentage of the profits at the end of the sale.

Many people do this with estate sales. Let’s say the estate sale brings in $5000 over the course of 2 days and you agreed to take 25% of the profits. This means that your “cut” would be $1,250 for 2 days of work! Does that seem worthwhile?

Idea #23: Genealogy Research

People these days are becoming more and more interested in where their family originated. However, the research that needs to be done is extensive and some people are simply unable or unwilling to do it.

If you are able to access a computer, you can do this research for yourself. Simply charge a set fee for providing someone with as much information as possible. You can also do something similar to this for people who are adopted and looking for their birthparents!

In conclusion, there are so many different things that you can do from home. You are only limited by your own imagination and the willingness to take massive action.

Don’t be afraid to chase your dreams. It is never too late to start pursuing your passions and take control over your life and your destiny!